Chapter 167: On equal footing
Su Can soon learned the whole situation. There were only two "guests" in the Huangpu Club's private room. He knew one of them: Tao Chuhong. Beside him sat another man with a crew cut, twenty-eight or twenty-nine, wearing a neat suit. He was handsome, with a high nose and a calm face that carried an intangible authority. His eyes were mild, yet gave the impression of boundless energy hidden within.
When they entered, the man greeted Li Luo warmly. After Li Luo made the introductions, he proved to be Tao Chuhong's cousin, Tao Zi. Before, there had been no way to tell just how much influence someone possessed. But after Tao Changping had been brought down in Rongcheng, relations between the Wang Family and Tao Family factions should clearly have looked tense. Yet in the warmth with which Li Luo and Tao Zi exchanged pleasantries, there was not the slightest trace of the upheaval that had rocked Rongcheng's official circles.
Yet precisely this harmony on the surface, this picture of serene clouds and drifting mist, made even Su Can sweat a little.
"Since Major Li has come to Shanghai, I should be treating you to this meal, no matter what. There's no reason you should be paying. Consider it a welcome dinner. It's our honor. How many people in the country have two bars and a star on their shoulders at twenty-eight? I'd say Major Li belongs to the youngest echelon of senior military officers not just in the Military Region, but in all of China," Tao Zi said with a smile.
Li Luo waved a hand. He stood on no ceremony with Tao Zi. "That's why I say civilian government and the military are two different things. You always think everything in the military